By Laurie O’Neill – [email protected]
“Erased,” “overshadowed,” or “obscured.”
These words describe the “often-overlooked contributions of Black and Indigenous patriots both during the American Revolution and throughout the long struggle for continued expansion of freedom and liberty over the past 250 years,” says Joe Palumbo, Concord250 Events chair.
A March 15 program called “A Fight for Freedom: Honoring Patriots of Color” will address the stories of some of these patriots and their sacrifices. Unfortunately, Palumbo says, systemic racism and historical bias have erased or buried many records of the contributions of people of color made to the country’s birth.
By telling these stories, “we honor their service,” he says, “and expand our understanding of the nation’s founding.”
Concord250, Minute Man National Historical Park, The Robbins House, Concord Visitors Center, The Umbrella Arts Center, and other local organizations are partners in the event.
The two-hour live program will feature historical narratives, cultural performances including a short theatrical piece, “The Visit,” written for the occasion, and a discussion — all of which “will offer perspectives on the ongoing struggle for freedom, liberty, and equality,” Palumbo says.
Taking up arms
In 1775, between 20 and 40 colonists of African and Indigenous descent fought alongside fellow revolutionaries in Concord during the opening conflict of the war, according to records. Although they were excluded from formal militia service before the war, they were some of the earliest patriots to take up arms in the fight for liberty.
By the end of the Revolutionary War, some 5,500 African and Indigenous men had served in the Continental Army or militia.
Among Concord patriots of color whose stories will be told are Caesar Robbins and Brister Freeman, both previously enslaved Revolutionary War veterans. In 1776, Robbins served under Captain Israel Heald to protect Boston’s Dorchester Heights. He also marched to Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York and enlisted for the last time in 1779.
Robbins raised his family in a house that was restored and opened to visitors across from the Old North Bridge.
Freeman, originally named Brister Cuming, was enslaved for 25 years on an estate where the former prison now stands. He served alongside his enslaver in Saratoga, New York, during the American Revolution. In 1779 he re-enlisted of his own accord and changed his surname to Freeman.
Black Walden
After the war, Freeman bought an acre of land in the area that is now Walden Woods and became the second person of color (after Robbins) to own land in Concord. His presence there led to a small settlement of other free people of African descent that was referred to as Black Walden.
Freeman was said to have endured relentless harassment, but he persevered, earning the admiration of Henry David Thoreau.
A stone marker installed in 2013 indicating the Freeman homesite carries these words of Thoreau’s: “Down the road, on the right hand, on Brister’s Hill, lived Brister Freeman … there where grow still the apple trees which Brister planted and tended.”
Also in 2013, the Toni Morrison Society placed a “Bench by the Road” at Thoreau’s Path on Brister’s Hill as part of its project to recognize the contributions of enslaved people to the building of the nation. The bench invites visitors to Walden Woods to think about the lives of Freeman and others in the settlement.
Palumbo says a grant from The Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism enabled the group “to create this unique program that helps us all learn more about and honor the amazing history of all those who participated in building our great nation.”“A Fight for Freedom” will be held at The Umbrella Arts Center at 40 Stow Street on March 15 from 3 to 5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, go to visitconcord.org.
